


quarantine wings in a hospital

by windupkatya



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Cancer, Cancer Arc, Gen, Hospitalization, Hospitals, I'm Going to Hell, M/M, Quote: I'm with you 'til the end of the line, They were 17, osteosarcoma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-23 17:10:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8335690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windupkatya/pseuds/windupkatya
Summary: a fic were josh and tyler were happy and nothing is wrong. nothing at all.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bad Side of Twenty-Five](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5165774) by [iktwabrokenbone (apiculteur)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/apiculteur/pseuds/iktwabrokenbone). 



> this hasn't been edited, so i'll try to do that soon. thanks 4 reading!  
> xoxo, eams

Tyler met Josh at camp the summer before it all happened. Both were first year leaders, and they co-lead the 2nd of four boys cabins. For the whole week, Josh was nothing but polite to anyone and everyone. Even the toughest lunch ladies had a soft spot for him.  
During worship, at least 1 group of girls would ask to pray for him. Every time the pink-haired boy accepted graciously and let them hold either his bicep or his hand until they were done. This wasn't because Josh was a player-he was far from that- he just was too nice to decline.  
He didn't have a mean bone in his body, and that's what made it worse when he got sick.

At first his symptoms were regular to the common cold- loss of appetite, fever, cold sweats, and the excessive need for sleep. Every week Tyler would come over and take him out of the house for a quick walk before watching movies until he had to go back home.  
Within a month, Josh was practically bedridden. The 2 boys couldn't go out without the strawberry pink-haired boy cringing in pain longer than he wasn't. One day when Josh's legs were twice their usual size, him and his parents realized it might be the time to go to the hospital. 

After blood work and dozens of tests, it was concluded that the one, the only Josh Dun had stage 4 Osteosarcoma, a bone marrow cancer. The survival rate was 70% at the time, but treatment would have to be started immediately if he wanted the absolute best results. He started chemo the next day.  
There was nothing more the no longer pink-haired boy hated than the white hospital walls. It reminded him of death and loneliness- the 2 things he was scared of the most. Whenever Tyler took him to treatment and checkups, there wasn't a moment where one of his hands weren't occupied by the other's.  
One of the last times Tyler saw Josh slightly energetic was the day after he was admitted to the hospital as a full time patient. Proudly, he presented his freshly shaven head from underneath a beanie to show his undying support towards the other. Through his cracked lips, Josh's smile was almost the same as when they had first met all those months ago.  
"I'm with you during this," Tyler had promised. "Till the end of the line."  
During all this, Josh stayed as strong as he physically could. Every day was a blessing to him, and he tried his hardest to stay awake and embrace them as they came. 

The last time Tyler saw Josh, he couldn't open his eyes without wincing. Still he acted like nothing was wrong. They held hands and talked (which was just Tyler telling him about the NHL playoffs). The other boy knew his best friend wasn't going to make it, you could tell by the green translucency of his skin. He just didn't realize how soon it'd be.  
It was a Thursday. The snow was peacefully falling onto the ground, and school had let out early. Traffic was a bit bad due to early afternoon accidents, but Josh was easily worth it. As Ty got closer, a knot formed in his stomach, but he just nudged it off. Today couldn't be the day. Everything was going in his favour for once.  
He got the phone call from Mrs. Dun in the hospital's parking lot. Josh had been sleeping, it was a painless passing. He was with his mom, dad, his two sisters and his brother.  
He sat in the car silently until dusk. No one could get him back into the hospital. Tears streamed down his face for what felt like hours with ease. The snowfall seemed deceiving now, and every car in the parking lot but his own meant that someone was alive in the building in front of him, someone that wasn't Josh Dun.

The funeral was unsurprisingly packed. At least 60 people filled the pews, half of them were crying before the ceremony started. Tyler cried as well, but in rage. No one was there before. Everyone started caring after he died. Whereas Tyler spent more time at the dreaded hospital than at home or at school. Everything in the past 6 months were for him, and only for him. Halfway through the service he had to swallow his anger and preform the song he sang for Josh the night they first met at camp all those months before. Tyler thought he heard Josh singing along somewhere in the room.

It's been 10 years since Josh died. Tyler smiled to himself, staring down at his permanent oxygen tank. A year ago, the remaining boy was diagnosed with nothing other than Osteosarcoma. Unlike Josh, Tyler got better for the most part. During chemotherapy his lungs gave which explains the oxygen tank. As a 27 year old, Tyler didn't get out much. He stayed inside his apartment for the most part. Mrs. Dun, who was now 56, tended to visit for a weekly dinner with Mr. Dun. But Tyler had never visited his best friend, and he was planning on changing that today. The cemetery was a 9 minute cab ride. Tyler subconsciously fiddled with the clear tube that ran up to his nose, leaving streaks of sweat on the plastic. He didn't know why he was this nervous, all he was doing was looking at a cement stone that was set in place 10 years ago. Once he paid his driver, he heaved his tank out of the car and opened the gates, causing a flock of nearby birds to set off. Cautiously, Tyler set off looking for Joshua Dun to be engraved at the top of a rock. After 4 seconds, he spotted a small tombstone beside a tree with extremely shriveled up flowers in front, covering the last couple letters in the capture of his life. He could make out the word "William" in between to others, and he knew. Immediately he started crying. In the back of his mind, he knew the should've come sooner (and bring flowers), but he didn't regret coming today. He gently set himself on the dry grass, letting his hand bunch up around some blades of the yellow crust. "Hey Josh," he sighed. "Long time no visit. Not since the funeral to be precise." He waited for a response. Nothing but the sound of the leaves mixing with the wind was heard. "Guess what? I have Osteosarcoma now. I know partially what you went through." Tyler moved his hand from the grass to the stone, letting his fingertips trace the words written. He didn't speak for a couple minutes, just let the moment settle in. "Listen Josh, I'm so sorry. I should've come sooner than this. I-I just couldn't bring myself to. You were, and still are, my best friend. You deserved the world and all you got was a shitty funeral and flowers that look to be 10 months old." He flicked the petal off one of the 5 heads. "It's funny how the people who want to live, die, and people who want to die, live, huh?" He tried to laugh, but it came out as a stifled exhale. "You know, when I got this cancer, I thought it was punishment for not coming here. I thought somehow you told God to give me what took you from me to make me feel bad. If you did, it worked. I have no excuses for not coming here. I just couldn't bring myself too. But hey, your mom and dad have become my best friends now. They'll never replace you, obviously. They're good company though, they remind me of you a lot." "Every Christmas I go to your house and sleep in your bedroom just so I feel close to you again. Your room was never emptied, our tacky nametags from camp are still hanging on the wall in front of your desk. Remember when that one little 6 year old girl would run up to you every time she saw you just to run her hands through your hair? She called you strawberry more times than not." He closed his eyes tightly. "I forget how your voice sounded. It's been 10 years, I can't rack my memory far enough to hear the exact pitch. We watch videos of you, but it just doesn't sound the same. It doesn't make me feel like how it did in real life. I haven't felt it since you died- the feeling of a candle being lit in your stomach and your whole body being warmed by it. Someone told me it was the feeling of pure happiness, I just call it the feeling of when Josh smiled at me." Tyler looked around, the sun was starting to set along the other tombstones and the wind was starting to pick up. He tugged his jacket sleeves past his fingers. He knew it was time to go, but he didn't want to face the music. "The sun is telling me it's time I head back to my apartment. Maybe I'll come back soon. Just so you know Josh, if you're listening, I love you. Even during my 10 year hiatus, I loved you. I hope up there in heaven you love me too. See you soon, Josh." Tyler lifted himself up quietly and followed the dilapidated path back to the gate. As he walked out of the cemetery, a bird swooped over his head, as he ducked, the bird dropped a single strawberry in front of him.

**Author's Note:**

> okok go fight me in the comments and/or @woahdun on instagram.  
> ALSO: AO3 isn't letting me space this properly sorry


End file.
